


the sun has already risen

by Amazaria



Category: One Piece
Genre: Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, Family reunions and other things that make you happy, Fluff, Future Fic, Gen, Humor, Mentions of canon character death, Post-Canon, Post-Dressrosa spoilers, the author's emotions about Sabo, you know the one
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-13
Updated: 2021-01-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 02:15:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,423
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28735593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Amazaria/pseuds/Amazaria
Summary: Luffy lands in front of them, silhouette highlighted by the slowly-rising sun, not even bothered by the severe bobbing of the ship. The ship might start sinking soon, now that Sabo thinks about it. All those burns and waves can't have been good for the hull."SABO," yells Luffy, radiant and loud. Sabo breathes in in time with the rush of happiness that courses through him."Hi, Pirate King," he answers.(or: after Raftel and Mariejois, Sabo and Luffy reunite. It's exactly as easy as it should be.)
Relationships: Koala & Sabo (One Piece), Monkey D. Luffy & Mugiwara Kaizoku | Strawhat Pirates, Monkey D. Luffy & Sabo
Comments: 8
Kudos: 74
Collections: Sake Ceremony 2021





	the sun has already risen

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SoccerSarah01](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SoccerSarah01/gifts).



Sabo is three hours away from collapsing in on himself. He knows, he's got experience, he can measure exactly how this is going to go. He can feel the spiral coming with morbid fascination, and it's like the rational part of his mind has already taken a step back and gave up. He's pacing, muttering words under his breath. His thoughts are going too fast for his breath; he's playing catch up with himself, and, as always, wonderfully failing.  
"What are you _doing_ ," says Koala's exasperated voice. "By the Seas, just go. Home won't disappear the second you leave, y'know?"  
"You don't know that, do you," he retorts out of habit, her voice already an anchor. She rolls her eyes at him.  
Dragon behind her clears his throat a little. "Sabo, you have no obligations. If you want to go-"  
"No, I'm fine," reassures Sabo hurriedly. Koala snorts out loud, because she's never learned not to be annoying.  
"Just go to him, you've been talking about Luffy since forever-"  
"He's the _Pirate King_!" Exclaims Sabo, pride bursting in his chest still amid the not-quite-panic. "I can brag about him!"  
"Oh, like that ever stopped you before-"  
Sabo ignores him, because he's an adult, and Koala obviously isn't. "Sabo," repeats Dragon in that low, calm, confident voice Sabo's never known him not to have. "We'll be fine, if you want to take a break."  
"No," says Sabo. "No, because there's still so much left to do- and, so much left to uncover, too, Koala's shit at deciphering bureaucratic bullshit and you also are, no offense- I mean, you were raised by Garp, it's understandable. Just- there are so many things to do, I can't leave now!"  
"You sure can," says Koala. "Are you- are you nervous? Is this what this is?"  
"No, Koala, I'm on the edge of hyperventilating because it's _fun_ ," hisses Sabo.  
"Oh by the- what are you even nervous about?"  
"You don't need to be scared," says Dragon, still in that nothing-can-hurt-you bullshit voice of his. It calms Sabo down still, because of course it does. He pretends not to see Koala smirk when he settles back into his skin; like she doesn't do the same. "Koala can too, I'm assuming she's going as well."  
"What?" Asks Sabo, just as Koala goes, "Oh, did he assume I'm _not_ going with him?"  
"What do you mean, you're going with me?"  
"Well, obviously," scoffs Koala. "You'd die in a day otherwise."  
"You can't- you can't just send away both of your Chief of Staffs at the same time!"  
"Sorry, did you miss all the times we went on missions together?"  
Sabo glares at Koala; she winks at him. He hates her.  
"You can go," repeats Dragon, not one to be distracted by Koala and Sabo's everyday arguments. "You can go. The fighting is almost done and over with, and you've been running yourself into the ground, the both of you."  
They both straighten to protest, glare at each other, and stand silent. Dragon levels them with a look that were he anyone else would be amused, but on him it just looks smug.  
Sabo's picked that up from him, hasn't he.  
"Go. The world won't burn down to the ground in your absence, I promise."

oOo

"Sabo," hisses Koala. "Stop it with the fire."  
"Oh, I'd like to see _you_ extinguish fires-"  
"That you've lit yourselves!"  
Sabo scowls at her in the strange darkness of the dawn. Unfortunately, since the dark is lit-up with mildly-controlled wildfires, she sees it and scowls right back.  
"We're close! I see them!"  
"Yeah, I do too, my Observation's better than yours! But that's not a reason for burning down our boat!"  
"I did not _burn down our boat_ -"  
"It's on fire."  
"It's fine," dismisses Sabo. "We didn't need it anyway."  
Koala stares at him. "We do need to sail back."  
"Nah," says Sabo, then doesn't explain further. Koala kicks him in the shins with Haki; he yelps in pain. "Stop being-," she starts to say, and is interrupted by the sound of a large object launching into the sky at a concerning speed.  
The Thousand Sunny lands next to them; the waves it makes shake their small ship, which they definitely don't have enough crew to man properly, and whose continued survival was already unlikely before Sabo set light to it. The fires don't go out, but Sabo grins at Koala like they had; she makes a move like she wants to punch him in the gut or throw him overboard, or who knows what.  
"They saw us!" He exclaims. "See, my plan worked!"  
"We could've just sailed closer-" hisses Koala, and is once again interrupted by an arm stretching in between the two of them and a hand grabbing their small and not-very-sturdy mast. She winces. Sabo grins.  
Luffy lands in front of them, silhouette highlighted by the slowly-rising sun, not even bothered by the severe bobbing of the ship. The ship might start sinking soon, now that Sabo thinks about it. All those burns and waves can't have been good for the hull.  
"SABO," yells Luffy, radiant and loud. Sabo breathes in in time with the rush of happiness that courses through him.  
"Hi, Pirate King," he answers.  
"Sabo," repeats Luffy, grinning, still for once, solemn and regal.  
And then all at once he's a whirlwind of movement, and his arms are around Sabo, or maybe Sabo's are around him, and he's missed this, he's missed this, he's missed this.  
"Hi, Luffy," whispers Sabo through his grin, clutching his brother as hard as he can. This is real; oh, he's missed this. "Thought I'd stop by."  
Luffy steps away, lets him go, smiles at him. Behind him Sabo can see Koala's eyes, soft and fond, and he swallows past the sudden knot of emotions in his throat. "Sabo!" Exclaims Luffy, waving his arms around, jacket fluttering around him as he does so. "I went on an adventure!"

oOo

"You could've just written us," says Nami apologetically. "We wouldn't have made you chase us around so much."  
"S'okay," assures Sabo. "It was fun traveling a bit!"  
"It was not, he's an idiot," says Koala loudly to Robin, who's arm she hasn't let go of since she squealed and threw herself at her friend the second they climbed onto Sunny. Robin chuckles. Sabo sends them both a betrayed look, which of course they ignore.  
"Still," says Nami, frowning. "Maybe we could've saved your ship from burning." At her side, Franky nods seriously.  
Sabo winces a bit. Koala shakes her head. "Believe me, nothing you could have done would have saved it," she says cryptically. "Also it wasn't ours, we stole it from some asshole bounty hunters, like, three hours ago."  
"Ah," says Usopp, clearly a bit bewildered. "I thought there weren't any islands around?" Frowns Nami.  
"No, you're right," confirms Sabo. "I mean, as far as we know."  
Nami opens her mouth then clearly decides to move right on. "Right," she says decisively. "Well, Sanji's already getting some party food ready, so I guess that's what we're doing?"  
"Party!" Cheers Luffy from his place, talking excitedly to Brook about one thing or the other. "Everyone out on the deck!"  
"Not right now-," tries to say Nami, but Luffy ignores her and she just shakes her head. "Fine, right now. I'm sure Sanji's already whipped up something."  
"It should be fine," confirms Robin, smiling a bit. It's good to see her with her crew; there was always some kind of distance to her demeanor during their separation, and she's clearly happier here, on this ship.  
"Sabo," yells out Luffy all of a sudden, and throws himself at Sabo. "Wha-" says Sabo, and gets an armful of his little brother, and only manages to stay steady because of a hand on his back righting him.  
"Oh, we have guests?" Says Jinbe. "I don't believe we've met. Good morning, Captain."  
"Jinbe!" Beams Luffy. "This is Sabo! He's my brother!"  
"Oh," says Jinbe, eyes softening. "Pleased to meet you," he says. "Are you visiting?"  
"We're having a party!" Shouts Luffy. Jinbe inclines his head, still smiling fondly. "Very well, Captain," he says, and almost stumbles when Koala leaps onto his back, grinning from ear to ear. "Jinbe!" She chimes. "Remember me? It's Koala!"  
"I- _Koala_?"  
"Hi," grins his partner, giddy. "I'm babysitting Sabo," she announces. "Hack says hi, and that he misses you."  
"Oh," says Jinbe, blinking rapidly, before clearly getting his emotions under control. "Me as well. It's good to see you, Koala."  
She climbs onto his shoulder and smiles, fond fond fond. "You too! How's everyone been, from the crew? Haven't seen them in ages, your news must be fresher than mine-"  
"Who's that," asks Luffy from Sabo's back, still not letting him go. Sabo snorts.  
"That's my partner," he says. "We fight together."  
"She's your crewmate?" He asks.  
Not exactly, she isn't, but Sabo shrugs. "Close enough to it, yeah," he answers.   
"Oh," says Luffy thoughtfully. "Good. I like her."  
"Thanks," says Sabo dryly. "How's your crew?"  
"They're the best," says Luffy, predictably enough. Usopp, who has clearly been eavesdropping on their whole conversation, smiles a bit. "I missed you, Sabo!"  
"Me too," confides Sabo. "Dressrosa was a while ago, uh? Oh, that reminds me- Luffy, is everyone out here?"  
Luffy tilts his head a bit; Sabo guesses he's checking with Observation. "Yeah," he says finally. " 'Cause Zoro stopped sleeping and Sanji's bringing the food."  
"Okay then," Sabo says, and shrugs his brother's arms from around his shoulders. "There's something I wanted to say to all of you, last time, but some of you were already gone," he explains, and waits 'til everyone's eyes are on him.  
He catches Zoro smirking like he already knows what's going to happen.  
Sabo takes a deep breath and bows, ninety degrees, back straight. "Thank you for taking care of my little brother so well," he says. "I owe you all a great deal."  
The Strawhats from around the ship smile at him, he knows somehow without straightening. Luffy stays silent. " 'Course," says Zoro finally. "What else would we do?"  
"Fair enough," smiles Sabo. "But still. It's a weight off my mind, to know that I don't have to worry about him."  
"As if you don't still do," scoffs Koala, who learned the meaning of the word backstabbing one day and hasn't looked back since, apparently. Sabo sends her a look; she sticks her tongue out. Robin laughs quietly in the background, because Sabo can't trust any of his friends.  
"I shouldn't have brought you along," he mumbles. She scoffs.  
"Please, as if you could have stopped me."

oOo

Once the sun is high in the sky, the party dies down a bit. Sabo leans on the railing Luffy is sitting on as the rest of the crew ostensibly doesn't approach them. He lost track of Koala a few minutes ago, which frankly worries him since he can't see Robin either, but that's out of his control, really. "Your musician's really good," remarks Sabo, and Luffy, eyes shining, nods.  
"So, Pirate King, uh?"  
"It was a lot of fun!" Says Luffy.  
"I guess you told us you were going to do it," laughs Sabo. "What are your plans, now?"  
"Exploring," beams Luffy. "Oh, and we have to keep our promises to Laboon."  
"Who's that?"  
"The whale that ate us at the beginning," says Luffy. "He's Brook's friend."  
Sabo shrugs; it's his fault, he shouldn't have asked. "Okay. And then?"  
Luffy frowns a bit. "I don't know," he says. "I guess I'll see."  
It's a very Luffy answer; Sabo doesn't know what he expected. "Did you-," he starts to ask, then hesitates a bit. "Did you ever visit Ace's grave?"  
Luffy tilts his head. "No," he says. And then, after a short silence: "I miss him."  
"Yeah," whispers Sabo, heart squeezing painfully. "Yeah, me too. I'm- I wish I could visit him."  
Luffy swings his legs around. "We all accomplished our dreams," he declares. "And I'm strong enough, now."  
"Yeah," agrees Sabo. "Yeah."  
"So I think he'd be happy," says Luffy. He looks down at his fingers; folds them into fists, relaxes them. "We have a lot left." He smiles. "I missed you, Sabo."  
"Me too," says Sabo, watching the waves come and go, come and go. The ocean looks deceptively peaceful. There's a knot in his throat. If he doesn't get it under control, any moment now Koala is going to burst out of who-knows-where and check in on him, they're too paranoid for it not to happen.  
"Thanks for surviving, Luffy," he says. "For not leaving me alone."  
Luffy frowns at him. "I got stupid for a bit," he says. "But I had my crew. Jinbe reminded me."  
The knot in Sabo's throat relaxes a bit. "Well, good," he states. "We both got lucky."  
"Yeah, and then I got you back!" Continues Luffy. "So I got really lucky."  
Sabo hums, looking at the sun, high in the sky, shining unflinchingly; at his brother and the seas he rules, next to him.  
"Yeah," he settles on murmuring. "The luckiest."

oOo

"Are you sure you didn't want to stay longer?" Asks Koala, eyebrows furrowed, arms crossed. "We could. Dragon wouldn't say anything."  
"No," he says. "No, I got what I wanted. I'm okay."  
"Are you _sure_."  
"Yes! I know what I want, Koala, I'm not a child."  
"Sure," she hums. "Children aren't nearly as annoying as you."  
"Neither of us would know," points out Sabo. Koala shrugs, which is basically the same thing as admitting she's wrong, no matter how much she denies it. She sighs. "So are we going home, then?"  
"Yeah," confirms Sabo. "Unless there was something else you wanted to do."  
"I'm okay," she grins. "Are you finally going to stop gushing about your little brother on every occasion now?"  
"Shut up," he says; she cackles. He has the worst partner.  
"There's a Marine base on this island, want to commit a robbery?"  
He has the best partner.  
"Koala, I never not want to commit crimes," he says. "You should know that by now."  
"Predictable," she scoffs, but she's smiling. "Come on, then. We don't have all day."  
"We have all our days," corrects Sabo, grinning, falling into step with her with an ease born out of practice. He feels lighter. "Koala, we have all the time there could be."  
"You're being sappy," she accuses, faux-disgusted. He grins at her; the sun shines down on them.

The world is theirs.

**Author's Note:**

> This work was written as part of a gift exchange! There's more coming, folks, but in like three weeks to a month. Don't get too impatient.
> 
> To dear Sarah, to whom this is directed: I wish you the happiest of years! I hope this little piece will make you happy. You're a fantastic friend and a gift to this world, and I'm very lucky to have been able to make you something as thanks for your continued existence.


End file.
